Subway leaders consider setting up their own police unit – NBC Los Angeles

The LA Metro Board of Directors is considering creating its own police force in light of the increasing number of reported violent crimes across the transportation network.

The proposal, called the Transit Community Public Safety Department Implementation Plan (TCPSD), calls for the creation of a separate public safety department within a five-year transition period. Transportation leaders will discuss the possibility of the plan at a meeting scheduled for Thursday.

“We still know there’s a need for more, our public is demanding more,” said Robert Gunmer, Metro’s deputy director of system security and law enforcement. “You’re going to see a dedicated Metro Police force that’s focused primarily on mass transit.”

As part of the plan, police recruits will undergo a four-week training program and officers will be deployed under a zone-based deployment model, replacing Metro’s current system of tasking multiple agencies with ensuring public transit safety.

Currently, the multi-agency contract costs the transit system $194 million per year. The TCPSD proposal includes four different service models, ranging in price from $155 million to $214 million.

“An additional 141 transit ambassadors are deployed in the system every day,” Gunmer said. “And additional homeless ambassadors are deployed every day.”

The transport authorities will discuss the proposal further on Thursday. If it is accepted, it is unclear how quickly it could be implemented.